Note To Omar Bin Laden: No Wrongful Death Lawsuit For Osama Bin Laden

You know, I’ve seen some pretty insane frivolous lawsuits in my time, but if this one is true, then it definitely takes the cake for both craziest and biggest wasted of time.

Yes, that’s right.  Amid all the madness that has occurred following Osama bin Laden’s death, including threats from various terrorists groups around the world and the most recent terrorist attack from the Taliban itself, bin Laden’s son has accused the US government of “arbitrarily” killing his infamous father in violation of international law.

In an open letter, bin Laden’s son, Omar bin Laden, states that the Navy SEALs who raided his father’s compound should not have shot his father.  Rather, Omar says they should’ve taken his father prisoner and put him on trial in the same way Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic were after each of their respective falls.  Omar says that since his father was unarmed, his death was tantamount to an execution in violation of both US and international law.

Yeah, crazy right?  Omar claimed to be writing on behalf of his family.  If this is true, for bin Laden’s family to even suggest that there is an international law violation, let alone that bin Laden’s death can serve as a basis for a wrongful death lawsuit in America is simply laughable.  And I don’t mean this just from a moral perspective either, but also from a legal one.

Wrongful death lawsuits under both federal and state can vary, however, typically in most cases all a claimant (meaning the family member or estate suing on behalf of the deceased person) has to prove are three key elements in order to prevail on a wrongful death suit.  First, the claimant must show that the deceased person is actually dead.  Second, the claimant must show that the defendant’s actions, in this case the US government, were either partially or wholly the cause of the deceased person’s death.  And finally, the claimant must show they were actually damaged by the deceased person’s death, either financially, emotionally, and/or physically.

Now in wrongful death litigation there are variations in the level of proof needed depending on whether a claimant accuses the defendant of acting negligently or intentionally; however, in bin Laden’s case we don’t need to address this distinction because he was clearly killed intentionally by the US government.

So I know what you may be thinking now after reading the elements to wrongful death, and that is that it appears as if Omar may actually have a case.  And it certainly looks that way.  After all, bin Laden is actually dead (conspiracy theorists and tea party members, aside).  President Obama acting as the executive arm of the US Government admitted that they were responsible for bin Laden’s death.  And of course, any immediate family member is always emotionally damaged from another family member’s death, Omar included.  As far as one can tell, this all appears to fulfill the requirements for a wrongful death lawsuit.

So why do I keep insisting that there’s no way Omar can win a lawsuit here if he actually files one?  Because (and now I’m talking directly to you Omar) America was at war with al Qaeda and terrorism!

Now this is a good lesson for anyone thinking about suing for the wrongful death of their loved one.  War is a tricky exception that can kill (no pun intended) off any wrongful death lawsuit.  For instance, when a soldier dies in war, though the family may be severely traumatized by the death, it cannot sue the US government that deployed the soldier under a negligence wrongful death theory because the soldier died in service to the country during wartime and thus knew the risk of that service.

In Omar’s case, his father was one of the main enemy combatants in the US’s war.  Military necessity as well as the international laws of war dictate that casualties like bin Laden’s are acceptable and reasonable losses in times of war.  There were no human rights violations here or any actions by the US government that were contrary to the Geneva Convention.  All that occurred here was a mission under taken by America during wartime to dispose of a war-related threat, no more and no less.  This is why Omar doesn’t have a leg to stand on under both US wrongful death laws and international law.